ZERO Drove to Portland today and worked out the logistics of taking the train to the start line. Then went to the Marathon Expo. Jodi doesn't like crowds, so she went shopping. At the expo, I got to listen to an elderly, experienced, British runner give a detailed description of the course. He wore an old cotton sweatshirt with sewn-on patches from each marathon that he has run (about 75 of them). He went into detail of the area of the course that has been my Portland Curse. It's a downhill portion that curves to the left, but is slanted to the right. He calls it an "adverse cambor". I met some of the Red Lizard Running Team Pacers and picked up a 3:10 pace band. My plan is to hang behind the 3:10 pace group and fall back if the pace feels too brisk. |